


Calluna Vulgaris

by Sharoto



Series: Calluna Vulgaris [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Professors, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Pining, Pre-Relationship, Professor Draco Malfoy, Professor Harry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-18
Updated: 2019-07-18
Packaged: 2020-06-25 07:08:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19740718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sharoto/pseuds/Sharoto
Summary: It's Harry's first year as the Defense Professor and Draco has agreed to help him with some lesson planning before the start of term, but what will Draco do when he finds Harry in tears his office in tatters?





	Calluna Vulgaris

Thankfully the school was still empty of students, so no one noticed the spring in Draco’s step as he headed up to the Defence Classroom. He caught himself and forced a calmer pace. True, they have been getting on better than anyone ever predicted in the last few months, but that was nothing to get so excited about. The Potion’s Master straightened his robes before he opened the door, as he did he heard the sound of sobbing coming from the other end of the room, the end with Harry’s office. ‘Surely he isn’t finding lesson plans that painful?’ Draco thought, he opened the door and the smirk fell from his lips in an instant. 

Tears streamed down the young man’s face, collapsed over the desk, the letter clutched in one hand, the other covered his mouth as if to hold in the sounds. A cabinet smoked in one corner, papers scattered, plants overturned and the room stank of uncontrolled magic so strong Draco wondered how there wasn’t more damage. “Potter?” he raced across the room, went to wrap his former rival in comfort, but stopped unsure that it would be welcome. Close up he noticed the letter is on paper rather than parchment, an envelope on the desk is addressed simply ‘Harry’, the handwriting felt familiar to Draco but he couldn’t place it. Softly he tried, “Harry?” wondering what on earth could be in the letter.

“Shall I get someone? Minerva perhaps?” 

Harry choked out, “No!”, tears paused briefly, “No, she has enough to do without me bothering her”. 

He tried to take a calming breath, looked down and saw the letter once again. Sobs drowned out the crinkle of paper, Draco lowered himself and wrapped an arm around Harry, “Is there anything I can do?” he asked uncertainly. 

“No, there’s nothing.” Hopelessness radiated from him, and he burrowed into hollow of Draco's neck. He tried not to think how nice that felt.

He turned, looked up and said. “I’ll never see him again.” Jealousy flared that Draco didn’t wish to examine just then. “She’s taking him!” Damp spread through Draco’s robes.

Confused Draco asked, “Who are they taking?”, more detail meant more chance he could help, that's all. 

“My Son,” he said another sob wracking through him. He thrust the offending paper into Draco’s hand, “Read it.” Then curled back into his shoulder.

“I didn’t know you had a son.” The blond said, almost to himself as he read. 

Some of the muggle terminology he didn’t get, but he understood enough: 'Sole Custody’, ‘Unfit Parent’, ‘Harassment’, ‘Court Hearing’. He dropped the letter to the desk, pulled Harry tight to him, for a moment overwhelmed with what could have been. Had Astoria tried to keep Scorpius from him she would have had little trouble convincing any court that he, a Marked man, was unsuitable to raise a child. He had been so lucky. Harry should have had it easy, even if the mother was muggle. Parts of the letter just didn’t make sense, they didn’t add up to the man in front of him. He’d known Harry since they were both eleven and had been the focus of most of his worst impulses, harassment wasn’t his style, nor was stalking, well except in sixth year… but that was different, and certainly warranted all things considered.

“Merlin, Harry, I’m so sorry”. 

“I don’t know what I did!” Draco’s shoulder was completely soaked through now, but he couldn’t bring himself to care about that. He rubbed circles on his back and muttered a quick conjuring spell. A calming draft appeared in his hand a moment later from his own stores.

Gently he peeled the distraught man off and passed him the bottle. “Take this, and we’ll work it out”. Harry popped the cork a swallowed it down without even glance at the label, Draco was shocked at the implicit trust in the motion, things must really have changed between them. Either that or Harry was in an even worse state than he had thought.

“Where do I even start?” he said breaths deepened and tears stopped as the calming draft took effect. 

“Tell me about him, about your son? What’s his name?” Draco asked, thinking that it might distract him slightly while the potion started to work, it was fast-acting but not instant.

“James Sirius,” He said with a slight smile. “Sentimental I know,” 

Draco smiled, somehow unsurprised, “And how old is he?”

“Three, He’ll be four in May” 

“Same age as my own little terror then” Draco chuckled, Harry’s lip turned up at the corner.

“I guess so.”

They chatted back and forth for a bit, exchanging stories of their sons and their mischief. Draco kept the topics light until he saw the signature soft smile meaning the draft was finally working. He really didn’t want to sour the conversation but needs must.

“And...his mother?" 

Harry scowled, and Draco hoped it was more at the subject than at him.

“Heather, muggle but her sister’s one of us.” He scoffed. “Couple of years below us, Erica I think. Not that she mentioned that.” Eyes narrowed but he carried on, “It was a muggle club, I thought I’d be safe from all the Hero worship shit for once, but she knew who I was anyway. Seen me in her sister's Prophets.” He struggled through the potion's effects, “Only met up a couple of time, she seemed nice enough, but I was… figuring things out.” 

He looked away from Draco, cheeks red and the blond thought, or maybe just hoped, he understood. So few knew his own sexuality for certain, though “Amicable Divorce” in Pureblood circles only really meant one thing. Even if he’s wrong, it would be worth the risk, right? After all, Harry’s been friends with Werewolves, Giants, Veelas and even House-elves, he’s unlikely to care if…

“Figuring things out”. He muttered “I remember that well enough,” He smiled, “Made things easier when Astoria and I first started courting, that I’d already ‘figured things out’,”. Harry looked back at him now, eyes blown wide.

“So, she knew? Before…?” He trailed off eyes still on Draco.

“Yes, it was part of the reason she accepted in fact.” He laughed at the thought. Theirs had been an odd courting, more a hashing out of a contract than anything else, it was a matter of convenience for both of them. But at least the friendship was genuine, the love too though perhaps not in the way the parents had hoped.

“Huh? Sorry? What?” Harry spluttered, emerald eyes boring into silver.

“Neither of us wanted a marriage, not like that anyway, however, we both wanted a child. Got both sets of parents off our backs too.” Draco beamed, but Harry’s face dropped once more. 

“Enough about me lets sort you out first. Where were we?” Going off on a tangent isn’t helping Harry. “Figuring things out? I’m going to assume that means the two of you did not last long?” His tone turned more serious, focus fully on the problem at hand.

“Nah, managed it just the once, then decided women just weren’t gonna do it for me.” He gave a sad sort of chuckle. “So I broke it off, that was that. Or so we thought.” He looked down and started fidgeting with the bottle in his hands, popping the cork only to push it back in again.

“So when did you find out?” Draco asked, unsure what answer would be worst. 

“A month or so later, she told me more or less when she found out.” The fidgeting increased, the potion must be wearing off already. 

“Did you try and get back together?” Merlin knew how self-sacrificing these Gryffindors could get, Harry in particular. It wouldn’t shock him if he’d proposed irrelevant of his newly discovered preferences. 

“Nah, not for lack of trying on her part though.” He shuddered at the idea, the memories of her early come-ons, of the many times he had to tell her no.

Draco was taken aback by that, but glad Harry hadn’t, for once, done the heroic thing, and had thought about his own happiness rather than just done the ‘right thing’. “Fair enough, Did you tell her you were Gay or just not interested?”.

“Not interested, was still sorting it out in my head to start with, but, well the reactions are so much worse in the muggle world you know?” Harry finished, still looking down a sense of shame cast over him. Draco had heard little of how Harry had grown up, his ‘family’ being homophobic as well didn’t exactly come as a surprise. His own limited experiences with certain parts of the muggle world hadn’t helped either.

“Yes, I know.” He left it at that for now, another discussion for another time. Harry paused a moment as if he wanted to ask, but shook his head and continued.

“We sat down and discussed it, I wouldn't have forced her either way. But I’d always wanted a family, and what with ‘figuring it out’ it seemed like a miracle.” His eyes darted to the letter again, and he drew in a deep stuttering breath. “she said she wanted the same, but if we weren’t going to be together she wanted to be the ‘Primary’ caregiver. Which seemed fair enough, I told her I’d be there every step of the way. Even offered to pay for anything they needed.” The cork popped out, was pressed back in only to be popped out again. Draco placed a hand on Harry’s, not too firm but enough to help calm the fidgeting.

“What next?” he prompted.

“She refused any money but accepted my help. Maybe she just wanted me close or something? I was such an idiot. Should have made sure she took money. Or got it in writing. So stupid!” He cried, hands clenched under Draco’s. “It’s gonna cost me everything!” There was a cracking sound, and Draco eased the bottle out of Harry’s hand and placed it carefully on the desk. He turned over the younger man's hands, checking for damage. Satisfied, he wrapped his fingers around one and squeezed as Harry kept muttering. 

“You are not stupid, Harry. Naive, overly trusting, perhaps. But never stupid.” Draco raised his spared hand, and gently raised Harry’s chin until their eyes met again, if only briefly. Softly he asked, “When did things start to go wrong?”

“The last few months, well I guess she was always demanding and controlling,” He started to ramble, refusing to meet Draco’s gaze, his hand still under his chin. “But it’s only since I took this job that it got really bad. Merlin! This is all my fault!” His hands moved to Harry’s shoulder and both gripped harder.

“Harry! No! I might not know all the details, but accepting a job you’ve wanted since you were 15 does not mean this is your fault! It does not give her the right to keep James from you!” This came out harsher than Draco meant it to. “Besides, I bet you did something stupidly Gryffindor and offered to buy a house for them both, or something!” Harry blushed, red tinting his cheeks rather prettily Draco couldn’t help but think. “You did, Didn’t you?” Harry nodded, tears budding at the corners of his eyes. “Of course, she refused?” He was getting exasperated now, but there was another short nod, and a slight shrug under his hands. He loosened his grip slightly. “However, … let me think, she wanted time to think about it?” Another nod, tears near bursting point, emerald eyes barely meeting his. Draco thought for a moment getting into the woman mindset.  
“Then… hmm… refused your owls, well letters I suppose, and however else muggles communicate these days.” 

Harry found his voice at last. “Yeah, that's about it. She refused my calls, wouldn’t answer her door when I showed up for my regular time to see James. It was weeks! I tried to give her space I swear! But... she called the police on me!” Draco tilted his head at the odd word, he may not hate muggles but he doesn’t know much about them either. He’s trying to be better, he really is but information is hard to come by, particularly for someone like him. “Muggle Aurors, she told them I was harassing her and that she’d told me to leave.” 

“And they believed her? I suppose most would. Single mother, seemingly angry father. Bet she put on the full waterworks as well.” If she wasn’t a muggle, she would no doubt have been in his own house. Draco briefly wondered on her sister’s sorting. 

“Of course,” Harry scoffed. “I didn’t help myself I suppose, when they asked my details I must have sounded mad. None of them made sense.” That self-pitying laugh was back again. 

Draco dropped his hand to meet Harry’s again taking both in his. “What do you mean?”  
He hoped his touches came across as comforting rather than taking advantage. He might have been, a little, but he really did want to help.  
“Where do you live? Can’t exactly tell them that one, heck I can’t tell anyone that, it’s under a fidelius right now. Had to tell them I was in the middle of moving, which is true but not helpful. Said I was staying with family and gave them Andromeda’s address. She’s the only one I know with a muggle address. But she lives miles away, which only makes me look more mad.” He sighed but relaxed his hands slightly before turning them to grip back. With the mention of his long-estranged Aunt, Draco forgot himself and interrupted.

“You speak to My Aunt?” He shook himself, “Another time, not important.”

“Oh, Yeah, forgot you were related. My godson is her Grandson, Teddy Lupin.”

“Another time.” He said, forcing his curiosity down. As much as he craved to hear news of what little was left of his family, it could wait. For now. “Next?”.

Harry shook his head, trying to get back on track, “Ah, yeah then it was ‘What is your occupation?’.” He scoffed “What am I meant to tell them? I teach a subject you can’t understand at a school I can’t name?” He grumbled a bit and when Draco nodded at him to continue he said “Told ‘em I teach Latin, at an exclusive school in Scotland, figured I could give them the name as they’d never find it anyway.”

“Latin? Your Latin is atrocious."  
“It’s good enough for Muggles!” He shouted, a bit defensively. Draco supposed that was fair Harry probably didn’t learn any Latin at all until Hogwarts. “Not that they believed me, as I took way to long thinking of an answer. Then they asked what I did before.”

“And I assume that telling them you used to be Po-leese would not work?”

“Nah, they’d be able to check that in seconds, said I worked Private Security, but only makes you violent in their eyes.” His hands broke free of Draco’s and his head collapsed into them.

“Next thing I know, she’s got a damned restraining order! And I get this!” He grabbed the letter, waving it at Draco. He might not know exactly what a restraining order was but he could make a guess."Court dates next week!” His voice strained, tears once again building at the corners of his eyes. “And as far as they know, I’m an orphan, who dropped out of school at 11, has no income, no job, staying with a family friend who already has a young kid to look after. Oh and a history of violence to top it all off.” Harry looked up at Draco, tears now pouring down his face. “There’s no court that would ever settle in my favour!” Desperation poured off him in waves, “Heather agreed to a meeting beforehand to ‘discuss terms’. I can’t imagine what she means but it can’t be good.”

Sudden understanding hit Draco, “Merlin, that woman is positively Slytherin.” Normally that would be a compliment from him but not this time. He wondered again at the sister, certainly, there had been no muggle-borns in his time. He drew in a sharp breath, “What I imagine she means, is how much are you willing to pay to keep your son.” Another thought hits him, and it isn’t a pleasant one. Gently he asks, “Harry, do you… Do you think she actually cares for James?” he winces as he finished but when Harry's face falls further than he thought possible he knows he was right to ask. He didn’t have to like it though.

“I’d thought so, but I’ve been so wrong about her for everything else… You really think that's what she wants? Money?” His tears stopped, a new emotion flits across his face, and its anger like Draco hadn’t seen since before the War. “She’s putting James through this for money!” His hands clenched in his lap.

“Possibly, but Harry your case isn’t hopeless. The ministry has measures in place for this. They can provide muggle friendly documents to anyone who has to deal with them. Surely Granger told you this?” Surely Harry didn’t think the ministry wouldn’t help? After all he’s done? Surely he didn’t think his friends would abandon him at a time like this?

Harry’s voice was small and quiet when he replied “I didn’t tell her, she’s got enough to deal with.”

Draco’s heart ached at this, how could he ever have thought this man craved attention, even when in desperate need he doesn’t want to bother people. The fact that most people in their world would move mountains for him doesn’t even occur to Harry. A hand moved to Harry’s cheek, thumb wiping away tear tracks.

“Oh, Harry, I’m sure she wouldn’t mind, and besides it would take seconds.”

Blush spread across Harry’s face once more. “Really?” He smiled properly and it was glorious, green eyes sparkled like emeralds. There was still flickers of anger their but hope seemed to be the main emotion.

“Yes! We can even get you a decent Lawyer and you’ll be just fine. Shame you can’t give memories as evidence though...” He said thoughtfully.

“Why?”  
“Because, Potter, then you could go to that meeting and when she tries to blackmail you…”  
“Oh! That’s brilliant Draco! I can get a recording, just voices but should be enough for muggles!” He interrupted excitedly, grasping Draco’s hand in his. He beamed, true joy across his face overriding the relief and the anger he’d shown moments before.

“Great! Now lets floo over there and get this sorted.” Draco grinned back happy to have helped, trying not to think how nice Harry’s hand felt in his.

“Now?” Harry said, oddly high pitched, looking down at himself. Draco took in the tear-stained shirt and puffy eyes, then his own damp robes. 

“Well, maybe after we’ve both cleaned up a bit.” He stood up pulling Harry after him. “Come along, let us get you fixed up and go get James.” Maybe he was being optimistic but Draco couldn’t see a way that anyone from the Ministry would allow Harry Potter to be separated from his only son, least of all by a woman like Heather. Not to mention the shock she was in for when Granger found out.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed this! All Kudo's and comments are appreciated!
> 
> Bonus points to anyone who figures out the title. 
> 
> I am thinking this into a series if people are interested. I have written way to much background for a fic this long and would love to use it. I also have another Professors AU fic in the works that isn't part of this series that I need to finish/edit.
> 
> Also, I currently have no beta, (Though thanks to my friend who reads my stuff even though she doesn't read fanfics!) so if anyone is interested in helping out just DM me.
> 
> Constructive Criticism Welcome!


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